


Lies I Tell To See You

by HollowIsTheWorld



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, M/M, background laurent and damen, but so little of it that it doesnt warrant the tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 00:51:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7596937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollowIsTheWorld/pseuds/HollowIsTheWorld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Nik and Jord had coffee together, and one time they actually made it a date.</p><p>
Or, Nik and Jord have caffeine addictions they should address.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lies I Tell To See You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a tumblr prompt.

**I**

“You are _hopeless_ when you’re in love, Damen,” Nik teased. “Three dates in one week?”

Damen didn’t even have the grace to look embarrassed. “He’s very easy to talk to. And if our schedules line up, why shouldn’t we have dinner together?”

“At least it means he’s eating,” a new voice broke in. “He’s been known to get too wrapped up in what he’s doing to remember that food is a thing that exists.”

Nik didn’t recognize the newcomer, but Damen plainly did. “Jord!” He nudged Nik. “This is Jord, he’s one of Laurent’s best friends. Jord, this is Nikandros.”

Jord shook his hand. He was so polite, and his smile was so genuine, that Nik could hardly believe he was actually friends with Laurent. Nik had only met Laurent a few times, and only briefly, but he didn’t seem to have much fondness for anyone who wasn’t Damen. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

Damen invited Jord to sit with him and Nik while they drank their coffee, and refused to take no for an answer when Jord said he didn’t want to intrude.

“Don’t bother arguing with him,” Nik advised. “He’s very stubborn.”

“He and Laurent have that in common. It’s a good thing they get along as well as they do, or things could get nasty.”

Damen rolled his eyes. “You know, I think introducing the two of you could be a terrible idea. You’re just going to talk shit about Laurent and I behind our backs, aren’t you?”

“Behind your back, in front of your face...” Nik told him. “It doesn’t really matter to me.”

Jord laughed. 

**II**

They ran into each other again a week and a half later. Same coffee shop. No Damen this time. Nik was momentarily uncertain if he should get Jord’s attention, unsure if it would be awkward for them to try to speak without Damen between them. After all, he hardly knew the guy.

Jord saved him from having to make a decision by noticing him anyway. He smiled a greeting, just as he had the first time they met, and pointed at an empty table, his eyebrow raised in a silent question. Nikandros nodded, accepting the invitation. 

“Do we have good timing, or do we just have caffeine addictions?” Jord asked once they were both seated with their drinks. 

“Probably the latter, but I’ll pretend it’s just coincidental timing if you will,” Nik answered. “I like to imagine that I drink a perfectly reasonable amount of coffee.”

Jord laughed. He had a nice laugh, Nik thought, the kind that was obviously genuine. “Don’t we all? Look on the bright side, I am _sure_ we drink less than Laurent. If Laurent drank anymore, he’d be injecting it straight into his veins.”

Laurent _did_ strike Nik as being a little high strung most of the time. If he was keyed up on caffeine twenty-four-seven, maybe that was why. 

They ended up talking for long after they’d finished their coffee, only parting ways when Jord had to run to work. 

**III**

“We keep meeting like this,” Jord said, coming up behind Nik a few days later while he was standing in line. “This is starting to feel more and more like an out of control caffeine problem.”

“I thought we agreed to pretend this isn’t a problem?”

“Ah, denial. A great place to live.” 

Nik wasn’t going to admit it out loud, but he was pleased he’d ran into Jord again. Coffee with him brightened his mornings. One of these days Laurent was going to find out that _his_ best friend and _Damen’s_ best friend actually enjoyed each other’s company, and Nik was never going to live it down, but for now he was enjoying himself. And preparing his comebacks. He'd been a boy scout, after all. It always paid to be prepared.

Jord made a face when he heard Nik order his coffee. “You drink black coffee? You _spend money_ on black coffee?”

Nik made direct, unblinking eye contact with Jord and held it as he took a long drink. Jord shuddered in disgust, and made a point of making sure Nik knew that _his_ coffee was loaded up with sugar and syrup and whipped cream. 

“Laurent drinks black coffee sometimes, but at least _he_ does it to look impressive, not because he enjoys it.”

Nik snorted. “That is the most Laurent de Vere think I have ever heard. How does he actually like his coffee?” 

Jord shrugged. “I’ve never seen him make it. He has a reputation to uphold, you know.”

They only talked for fifteen minutes that day before Jord had to run off. Nik watched him ago, surprised to find his heart sinking a little in disappointment at having to part ways so soon. The next time they met, he would have to find some excuse to get Jord’s phone number. 

Just so they could text each other jokes about their respective best friends, of course.

**IV**

They didn’t see each other again for two weeks, and Nik was _not_ purposefully going to the coffee shop more often in the hopes of running into him, nor was he hanging around after finishing his drink for an unreasonably long time to increase his odds. That would be desperate, and pathetic. 

And he _definitely_ didn’t feel his heart jump a tiny bit when he walked in one day to see Jord already there, sitting at a table and reading something on his phone. 

He looked up when Nik took the opposite seat and smiled. There were bags under his eyes. 

“You look like you need about four more of these,” Nik said, holding up his cup. 

“Probably. Work has been hell for the last few weeks. I think the worst is finally over, at least.” 

“If we’d gone any longer without running into each other,” Nik said, trying to sound casual and not like he’d been _hoping_ to run into Jord, “I was going to start to think you’d managed to cure that caffeine addiction you don’t have.”

“Worried I’d found a cure and wasn’t going to share my ways with you?”

“Well, Jord, I _did_ think we were friends. It’s only right you help your friends out with their unhealthy habits.”

Jord laughed, and seemed to look a little less tired, much to Nik’s satisfaction. “Well, I should get your phone number then. So I can keep you informed if I make any progress on it.”

Nik pulled out his phone, pleased it had been that it had been Jord who had asked, keeping Nik from having to find a way to prevent himself from sounding desperate. 

They parted ways half an hour later. Jord slapped Nik on the back and promised to text him to inform him of any progress in the caffeine addiction battle, or if there were any exceptionally embarrassing stories about Laurent he could share for Nik to bring up the next time they saw each other. 

Nik walked away, feeling light but with a pit of something growing inside of him, horrified at the realization that he was getting in over his head with this man.

**V**

A few days later, they were texting when Jord said he was on his way to coffee. Nik texted back ‘ _theres that good timing again - im halfway there now_ ’ and then ran to get there at a time that would make the lie believable. It was pathetic, but he was coming to terms with that. 

Jord grinned when he saw him and Nik returned it, working hard to keep his breathing steady and not look like he’d just ran four blocks to get there. 

“You and your black coffee,” he said. 

“You and your cream and sugar,” Nik retorted. 

He didn’t really _want_ any coffee, and it was too hot for it anyway, but he gulped down a large one all the same, just in case Jord started to get suspicious. Several hours worth of introspection had made Nik realize he was head over heels for the other man, but he hadn’t quite gotten to the point of being willing to deal with that just yet. 

This time, their meeting lasted over an hour, nobody rushing off to any other obligations. 

Finally, Jord stood up and threw his cup away. “You know,” he said casually, “it would probably be easier for both of us if we actually planned out these meetings.”

**I**

‘ _coffee at 9?’_ Jord texted two mornings later. Another text came through before NIk could reply. ‘ _i mean that in a date way. in case you’re as oblivious as damen is.’  
_

Nik nearly dropped his phone when he read that one. ‘ _ill meet you there,’_   he messaged back, once his heart started beating again.

When he got to the coffee shop - five minutes ahead of schedule - his palms were sweaty and his heart was pounding, as though he’d never gone on a date before. 

He was relieved to see that Jord didn’t look entirely sure of himself either when he arrived. 

“A date, huh?” Nik asked. 

Jord shrugged, though he was obviously less calm than he was pretending to be. “It seemed time. We’ve had coffee together often enough. And… my efforts to be casual about this weren’t really working in my favor so much.”

“So, I wasn’t the only one drinking a little extra coffee because of this?”

Jord chuckled. “No, you weren’t.” He pointed sternly at Nik. “If you ever mention that to Laurent, I will hunt you down. He’s merciless.”

“I won’t Laurent if you don’t tell Damen. He’s looking for payback for all the times I’ve made fun of how lovesick he is over Laurent.”

“Sounds like a deal.” Jord gestured to the building beside them. “Can I buy you a coffee?”

“Only if I can buy you dinner tonight.”

“I think that will work out just fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also on [ tumblr](http://hollowistheworld.tumblr.com/) if you want to come by.


End file.
